VIA: Action Bronson’s the latest artist to find himself in hot water over controversial song lyrics. On Friday, organizers of Toronto’s Northby Northeast announced their decision to remove Bronson from the lineup of performing acts after an online petition surfaced earlier in the week.The petition’s creator cited the rapper’s lyrics from his 2011 song “Consensual Rape” as glorifying “gang-raping and murdering women” and called it “an insult” that he be allowed to perform at Yonge-Dundas Square, a space that’s publicly owned. To date, the petition’s accumulated nearly 10K signatures.Initially, the festival maintained that Bronson would remain part of lineup, citing the fact that he performed at Yonge-Dundas Square in 2012 for NXNE with no complaints. But, in a statement released late Friday, organizers changed their tune by pulling the Queens emcee, citing the notion that they were “obliged to listen to how the city and community want it [Yonge-Dundas Square] used…. As annual guests in this space we feel we must accede to the strong wishes of the community and honour their input.”With Bronson already booked, Northby announced their intentions to have him appear at a separate venue at a later date. “We are not moving the Action show because we believe in censoring him or any other artists,” the statement read and called Northby “fundamentally committed” to have Action perform in Toronto.On Wednesday, Bronson responded to the controversy via Twitter. “It’s so funny the song that is causing these Torontonians to have their panties in a bunch literally has never been performed, ever,” he said in tweets that have since been deleted. “5 years ago a lost track. That’s what u base UR argument on? HOW ABOUT THE 9 PROJECTS THAT HAVE COME OUT SINCE? Don’t single me out.”In part, Action has a point. References to rape in rap aren’t exactly new to the genre. However, the much louder public outcry in response to those lyrics and other forms of misogyny is new as certain sects have started to pay closer attention to the messages artists release.Listen to “Consensual Rape” and read the festival’s full statement, both below.

We at Northby Northeast (NXNE) are very proud of our 20 plus years relationship with the people of the City of Toronto. And for almost ten years we’ve shared Yonge-Dundas Square with you to present free, all ages shows open to the public. YDS is the city’s space and as such we are obliged to listen to how the city and community want it used. A significant number of Torontonians have indicated their desire to have Action Bronson not perform at the Square. As annual guests in this space we feel we must accede to the strong wishes of the community and honour their input.As a result, we will not be presenting Action Bronson at Yonge-Dundas Square but, hopefully we will still be presenting Action Bronson as part of Northby. We remain fundamentally committed to presenting this artist on a Toronto stage. We are not moving the Action show because we believe in censoring him or any other artists. In fact, we find the limiting of artistic expression distasteful. When artistic expression is limited, freedom and the evolution of ideas is often the casualty.Hopefully, Action Bronson will accept our invitation to play at another, ticketed venue in the city so the public can decide for themselves if his work has merit. We booked Bronson, in part, because of his latest excellent disc, Mr. Wonderful.We hope that this series of events does not foster some type of artistic chill in Toronto and its public spaces. Yonge-Dundas Square must remain a dynamic place where many viewpoints are expressed not just culturally but also at political events and rallies staged there.We are heartened by the community engagement that has been taking place around this YDS show. This debate continues an important conversation about violence against women and its depiction in art and culture that is long overdue. We salute all of those who fight this battle and we would encourage everyone who has signed the petition or been engaged by this conversation to commit themselves personally to continuing the fight against violence against women. We at Northby pledge to continue being part of this discussion with the intent to help act as agents of change.Sincerely,The Directors of North by Northeast

VIA: No one, but no one, goes for the gold better than the NFL. Now, as the calendar year that will be capped by the 50th anniversary of the Super Bowl begins, it has unveiled its plan to tinge its logos and outline every team’s logo in the color, at least for part of the season.The party starts next month, when the NFL Draft kicks off with a newly gilded (kind of drab, but what do we know?) official logo. You know the NFL is serious about this because they’re even changing the color of the vaunted “shield.”

There’ll be differences — some subtle, some not — everywhere. The “50” at midfield of every stadium will be gold, starting with the Hall of Fame game in August.

From there, the things only get more golden. Starting in Week 7, every team logo will be outlined in gold.

Pro Bowl players will wear uniforms that are black, white, and gold.

And the Super Bowl 50 champion gets a big, gold “50” (with each numeral weighing 33 pounds) in addition to the Lombardi Trophy, which will remain silver even though photos make it look gold.

Friday, May 29, 2015

VIA: by Brendan DunneNike might have played a part in the large-scale corruption scandal surrounding FIFA, the international governing body of soccer.The federal indictment that charges nine FIFA officials and five corporate executives with corruption and racketeering doesn't mention Nike or any of its employees by name, but it suggests that the brand was involved in bribes relating to its sponsorship of Brazil's national soccer team.The Portland Business Journal reports that the indictment mentions an unidentified "multinational sportswear company headquartered in the United States" that became the co-sponsor of Brazil's national team in 1996. Nike has sponsored Brazil's national soccer team since 1996.The indictment says that the sportswear company signed a 10-year, $160 million agreement with the team in 1996 and later signed an agreement with sports marketing agency marketing agency Traffic Brazil that allowed the agency to invoice the company for fees for additional marketing services.Traffic Brazil allegedly invoiced the sportswear company for $30 million in payments between 1996 and 1999, payments which were used in part for bribes and kickbacks.It's unclear if the unidentified sportswear company involved knew about the kickbacks.Nike has not commented on the details of the indictment, but it says it's cooperating with officials in the investigation of global soccer corruption.“Nike believes in ethical and fair play in both business and sport and strongly opposes any form of manipulation or bribery,” Nike said in a statement. “We have been cooperating, and will continue to cooperate, with the authorities.”via Portland Business JournalUPDATE 5/29: Former Nike soccer executive Mick Hoban has spoken out about the company's alleged role in the FIFA scandal. In an interview with the Portland Business Journal, Hoban said that Nike never paid out bribes, despite the fact that bribery was "common knowledge" in the business of international soccer."There were literally tens, if not hundreds, of times when I was asked to do something dubious, if not illegal," he said. "Nike's standard response was to refuse."

It’s not entirely official, but WWE’s Sheamus appears to be pretty much locked in to play Rocksteady in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2.The Daily Mail’s Chelsea White (h/t IGN.com’s Lucy O’Brien) published photos of Sheamus on the film’s New York set alongside actor Gary Anthony Williams, who is slated to play fellow henchman Bebop. While his role has yet to be officially announced, Sheamus released the cat from its bag by posting a picture to Twitter of him posing with Williams, Brian Tee (Shredder) and Mirelly Taylor, whose role in the film still remains unclear.

VIA: Sepp Blatter captured his fifth term as FIFA president on Friday, winning the much-anticipated election over Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan despite the current backdrop of corruption charges surrounding the international football organisation. The first round of voting ended 133-73 in favor of Blatter, but that wasn't enough to secure the required two-thirds majority, per Joshua Robinson of the Wall Street Journal. However, Prince Ali elected to withdraw from the process before the second round could get underway, according to SportsCenter."I thank you, you have accepted me for the next four years. I will be in command of this boat of FIFA. We will bring it back of shore," Blatter said as part of his acceptance speech, according to Rob Harris of the Associated Press."You can see I'm in a good mood, it's normal. I was a little bit nervous today. I like you, you brought me again into FIFA," Blatter said, per Harris."I am a faithful man, God, Allah or whatever it is, the spirit, will help us bring back FIFA to where it should be," Blatter continued, according to AS English.He ended his acceptance speech with a concession to his critics and a look toward the future."I'm not perfect, but we will do a good job together. I thank you for trust and confidence. Together we go. Let's go FIFA!" Blatter said, per Huffington Post Sports.U.S Soccer president Sunil Gulati released a statement on the vote, per SportsCenter:The 79-year-old Blatter was first elected in 1998, when he replaced Joao Havelange in the governing body's most prestigious seat. Friday's voting took place at FIFA's Congress in Zurich, Switzerland, where the organisation's 209 voting members confirmed the extension of the leader's 17-year tenure.Blatter's victory comes at the end of a watershed week for FIFA, in which nine officials and five corporate executives were indicted on federal charges including "racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies," according to the U.S. Department of Justice.The bidding process and allocation of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, awarded to Russia and Qatar, respectively, will also come under the microscope.FIFA confirmed six of its members were arrested in an official statement, amid two separate investigations into potential bribery and illegal money-making schemes within the organisation. One investigation is U.S. based, the other is Swiss, as detailed by FIFA's release:Firstly, the arrest of six individuals this morning in Zurich concerns investigations by the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of the State of New York. The Swiss authorities, acting on behalf of their US counterparts, arrested the individuals for activities carried out in relation with CONCACAF and CONMEBOL business.The second instance follows FIFA’s initiative of presenting the file on the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cup™ bidding process to the Swiss Office of the Attorney General in November 2014. The authorities are taking the opportunity of the FIFA Congress to interview those FIFA Executive Committee members who are not Swiss residents who voted back in 2010 and are still in office.Blatter was the heavy favourite to win the presidential vote both prior to and after the corruption charges were brought against FIFA officials, so Friday's result provides little shock.UEFA President Michel Platini called for Blatter to step down on Thursday, as reported by BBC Sport. This sentiment was backed by David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Russian President Vladimir Putin, though, made his support for Blatter known, per BBC News.Prior to the voting on Friday, Prince Ali spoke to how he would act if elected as FIFA president, via Harris:Today is about giving the new dawn a chance to break through the darkness. If you give me the honour of your vote I will take FULL responsibility. FIFA is not a company, it is a service organisation. The world expects us to stand up & fight for FIFA, our game and for each other. We cannot ignore the clamour outside our doors.Harris also had Blatter's final words before the vote:I am being held accountable for the current storm ... so be it. I will shoulder that responsibility. I will take it upon myself. I want to fix FIFA - together with you.Despite a landmark week in the investigation of corruption within FIFA, one may question how significant change can be made with Blatter still in charge. A lack of transparency has shrouded his past governments, arguably creating the conditions which eventually led the American and Swiss authorities to take action.Public trust in football's governing body ranks at an all-time low, so Blatter's immediate plans must be to simultaneously improve his and FIFA's reputation.He now has four years to achieve this and define his legacy, as FIFA approaches arguably the most important era in its 111-year history.

VIA: CARTERSVILLE, Ga. — An Anheuser-Busch plant is stopping beer production to help those impacted by the flooding.Instead of making beer, they are canning water. It will be given to the Red Cross, who will then take it to Texas and Oklahoma.Water runs like this normally happen three times a year in Cartersville, but after seeing the need, they were able to work with the Red Cross to get help for those impacted locations.They expect the water to reach those states within 48 hours.

VIA: It looks like Kevin Owens is finally a step ahead of Sami Zayn.According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the current NXT Champion and thorn in John Cena’s side has signed a main roster contract with WWE and “will be making the transition from the NXT brand to the main brand quickly.” That’s good news for his family, whom he is tasked to provide for, and bad news for anybody hoping to wrestle over the summer and keep their spine in place.This raises two very important questions: How does the signing change the potential outcome of Owens’ match with Cena at Elimination Chamber, and what does it mean for his career in NXT? Here’s what we know:

He is booked for all Raw television going forward and will be starting on a full house show scheduled very soon. He will continue as a character on NXT television for the couple of months to where it’s a smooth transition out since he’s the group’s current champion.

Cole Sprouse, who played Ross’ son Ben Geller in Friends, has graduated from university. Oh, and by the way, his degree is almost perfect – he’s going to be an archaeologist after earning honours from a New York City college. Yes, we know it’s not quite paleontology like his dinosaur-loving on-screen dad (David Schwimmer) – but it’s pretty damn close. His college is also based on Manhattan island in NYC – just like Ross’ alma mater, Columbia University. The former child actor posted a picture of himself in his graduation gown along with his twin brother Dylan. The twins made their big screen debut in Big Daddy opposite Adam Sandler as a seven-year-old boy called Julian.

Whatever you are feeling toward Entourage as an entity (a show that was nominated for 26 Emmys, yet gets its fair share of scorn), it’s hard not to feel good for Kevin Dillon.“I was called Matt Dillon’s kid brother for a long time,” says the younger Dillon, who has genuinely created a character in Johnny “Drama” Chase that is very much part of the cultural zeitgeist, and who has very much separated him from his older brother in a way that even supporting parts in Platoon and The Doors never did.It’s been four years since we last saw Johnny Drama, and not much has changed in his life. There’s something almost comforting about that. In the Entourage movie, Drama thinks he’s finally gotten his big break by being in four pivotal scenes in his brother Vince’s (Adrian Grenier) directorial debut, Hyde. But problems arise when (A) a Texas financier of the film (Haley Joel Osment) wants Drama cut out of the movie and (B) a sex tape featuring Drama masturbating into a camera is leaked onto the internet. Yep, Entourage is back. (There was a subplot in which Drama was never in Hyde and, instead, auditions for Magic Mike 2 — Dillon explains why all this was changed and how whining to your director can actually pay off.)When you speak to Dillon, it’s hard to get over just how genuinely nice he is. And not in some fake way that can get you through an interview, which I’ve become at least fairly OK at spotting. (After this interview, I found myself telling friends, “Kevin Dillon is really nice,” to which they’d reply with some form of, “How is that surprising?”) Dillon just seems like an actor who knows he struck gold with a popular character and is enjoying it as much as he can … even though, yeah, if you happen to approach him on the street, he wouldn’t mind talking about The Doors instead, at least every now and then.You no longer have to answer, “When is the Entourage movie coming out?” You’ve been asked that a lot.A million times, yeah… They were driving me crazy. I wanted it to happen — we all wanted it to happen — but we were waiting on the script. We were waiting for Doug to write it and it was really Mark Wahlberg who cracked the whip on Doug and said, “Hey, come on, let’s get this done.”A lot of actors in your position might not want to play a popular character again after the series ends.You know what, it’s a career character. I love the guy. I love all the intricacies, you know? He’s so flawed, yet he’s got such a big heart and I love all that about him. But I do understand where other actors are coming from. You almost have to let time pass before people can accept you as something else – and just as the time is about to pass, you play that character again and you’re starting over again. You’re starting over from scratch. But, it’s well worth it in this case; any actor would love to play a character who’s got so much depth, you know?I’m not sure anyone does a better “realization face” on a consistent basis than you do — the moment Drama finally realizes what just happened.[Laughs] Yeah, yeah, I know – the moment, that’s an important thing for me. I want you to see me think and have it dawn on me.And the audience kind of loves him for that, but has there ever been a time when you thought something Drama did went too far? That he’d lose the audience?There was. I don’t remember what season it was, I think it was season four? My character was really mean to Turtle. Doug Ellin was like, “No, you can do anything and they’re going to love you anyway.” I was like, “No, he can’t, not if he keeps treating him really badly. Believe me.” And, of course, the message boards lit up, “Drama’s being a real jerk. Why is he treating Turtle so poorly?” So, Doug kind of redeemed him the next year, but I was really worried about losing the audience. I thought it went too far. And Doug and I kind of bickered about that a little bit and I was right about that. You can go too far. So, we always kind of straddle that line of, we want to bust each other’s chops as much as possible, but not to the point where it’s cruel or mean.He does dumb things, but his heart is usually in the right place.And that’s the one thing that’s great about him, he’s got a big heart. So, no matter what he does, he didn’t mean to do it and you can forgive him.When you start filming the movie, does it feel like another episode?To be honest with you, I think it took maybe two takes and I felt like we were back in the flow again. We were doing a walk and talk on a big yacht with no cuts, so the camera is following us down the steps of this yacht. And we all have that snappy dialogue. Two takes in, I felt like we were nailing it again. Like, we just had been doing it all along and we’d never stopped.Did it feel different in any way? Was it better craft services?Well, maybe the craft service was a little bit bigger.I’m sure a lot of people assume Johnny and Vince’s relationship based on you and your brother, Matt, as opposed to coming from Mark Wahlberg…Well, the crazy thing is, it’s really not his either. Maybe the pilot? But that was it. It was taken from the experiences of Doug Ellin and people he knows in the business. And sometimes we’ll tell Doug storylines or something that happened to a friend of ours and he’ll write it in. So, funny things happen that way, but it really isn’t based on Mark’s buddies. I mean, it is based on it, but only the pilot, I’d say.But do you get annoyed when people assume it’s about you and your brother? You’re the younger brother.Nah, I never get annoyed. I think the similarities kind of blur the lines, which makes it cool. He is my brother and he is an actor – and all these things, the cameos, do make it all seem a little more real. And maybe that little fact makes it feel even a little bit more real, too, which helps. But, it’s not at all. At one stage, we thought about trying to get Matt on the show somehow.Did you talk to Matt about it?Well, it’s tough, because Drama and Vince are half-brothers. Matt would have to be a half brother from the other half.People would have loved that.Yeah! Or, I had an idea. This is the best idea, but it didn’t happen. It was going to be Drama is a stunt double for Matt when Matt’s doing a movie – I’d have to go do stunts. I always thought that would have been so cool. That would have been great.Is there a line that separates playing a popular character, and maybe it’s not always great when people are yelling “Victory” at you on the street? Do you ever say, “Look, I was in Platoon?”Yeah, you know, every once in awhile someone will be like, “Hey, you were great in The Doors,” or something — and it’s good to hear! But, for the most part, it’s “Victory” down the street. It’s alright.Do you like that?Hey, you know what? It’s all a compliment, so nothing bothers me. I was called Matt Dillon’s kid brother for a long time, but that didn’t bother me either.For anyone who reads this, I hope the takeaway is that if they run into you on the street, they should ask about The Doors.Yeah, I could talk about The Doors, Platoon, The Blob. I’m cool with anything.People like The Blob now.Yeah! It’s kind of become a cult film. Another cult film, Heaven Help Us, that didn’t make a lot of money when it came up, but it became a real cult classic.I remember seeing The Doors in a theater. I took no substances before it started, but by the end felt like I was on something.You felt like you were tripping, right? There were all of these great crane shots that Oliver Stone did. And looking at us, we looked high – we wore contacts that made our pupils look dilated. So you look at us and it looks like we’re wasted. And Val Kilmer was just unbelievable in that movie.There was a subplot in an early Entourage script about Drama trying to audition for Magic Mike 2.Yeah! How did you know that?I’m familiar with an early script.Do you know what happened?I don’t.Tatum couldn’t do it. So Doug had to switch things up, so basically my storyline got kind of really cut down. So, I went from having a nice storyline, to it being pretty much chopped in half.Yeah, there was supposed to be a cameo from Channing Tatum at the end of the movie.Yeah! Exactly! And then when they cut that out, I basically didn’t have a storyline in the movie. And I went out to dinner with Doug Ellin, we were at Giorgio’s, and the way the movie is now, he put that in after Tatum pulled out – and then they pulled that out! Then I was like, “I don’t have anything to do in this movie! I’m the tagalong!” I basically cried to Doug Ellin – well, not really, I didn’t really cry, but I did whine a little bit – and he put the storyline back in! And that’s the one you see today.There’s a real Aquaman movie coming out now.You know what? We were trying to think of something that was just impossible to do. Like, only James Cameron could do something like that. But I think it’s cool. Nowadays, with all these special effects and stuff, you can probably pull that off. It would have been tough back in the day.You guys wanted to beat Spider-Man’s opening, which now seems like a quaint goal.I know.It’s just funny it was Aquaman, because Aquaman was never going to get his own movie. But here we are.It’s crazy. We are always ahead of the curve a little bit. And I don’t know how Doug does it. But even with the cameos we got at this party scene: Rob Gronkowski, Tom Brady, Julian Edelman. And then he had all the guys from Seattle — Russell Wilson. That was a year before the Super Bowl and then all these guys end up in the Super Bowl. It’s just pure luck. Ronda Rousey, I mean, people kind of knew who she was a little bit. I didn’t, until I got the script. And now everyone knows who she is and she’s on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

VIA: Hafthor “Thor” Bjornsson from Game Of Thrones is someone that WWE is interested in working with. They had him at their Performance Center this past week, giving wrestling a try in one of the practice rings. However, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that one source said the Thrones star didn’t seem to have his heart in it.The six foot nine and four hundred pound man stars as The Mountain on Game Of Thrones. If WWE could convince him to do a wrestling match at next year’s WrestleMania 32 then it would obviously be a huge coup for a mainstream crossover story.As part of WWE trying to woo him, they had him sitting with Stephanie McMahon for the NXT Takeover Unstoppable show last week. As WWE’s Chief Brand Officer, Stephanie showed particular interest in the television star.The company made sure to show the pair on camera, as a way of starting any potential hype for him possibly coming in as a wrestler.But at this stage, it seems a long way off. The fact that his heart didn’t appear to be in the training is worrying. But isn’t as if WWE have ever been put off by sloppy ring work when it comes to booking giants. As a celebrity attraction for WrestleMania, he’s definitely a contender.

VIA: Following Golden State’s advance to the NBA Finals, Klay Thompson experienced “concussion-like symptoms” after Trevor Ariza’s flying knee connected with Thompson’s right ear. Forgive us for re-showing it, but it lends credence to the severity of Thompson’s post-game danger signs.

Thompson might have been overwhelmed with his first trip to the NBA Finals, but the seriousness of his symptoms will force him to clear the NBA’s concussion protocol before he can suit up for Game 1 of the NBA Finals.Thompson was in no condition to drive last night, so his father took him home.

But Thompson’s dad downplayed the head trauma after the game:“He said he just needs a good night’s sleep,” said Thompson’s father, former NBA player Mychal Thompson. “[He] threw up and says he feels a lot better.”When Thompson was speaking with Doris Burke as confetti flew around Oracle Arena, he couldn’t initially hear her question since it was on his right side — opposite the same ear that looked like this when he originally returned to the court following the Ariza knee:

Thompson went back to the locker room and got three stitches to stem that flow of blood, but it wasn’t as simple as a cut to the ear.Thompson told Doris he’ll “be alright,” but added he was “a little dizzy, but ummm. We got a week off, or close to it. I’ll be alright, I’ll get my health back

When asked if he believes Thompson will complete the concussion protocol quickly, Mychal Thompson told Yahoo Sports: “Yeah, I think so, but I’m no doctor.”Below is the NBA’s return-to-participation protocol after concussion symptoms like the ones above:The return to participation protocol involves several steps of increasing exertion — from a stationary bike, to jogging, to agility work, to non-contact team drills.With each step, a player must be symptom free to move to the next step. If a player is not symptom free after a step, he stops until he is symptom free and begins again at the previous step of the protocol (i.e., the last step he passed without any symptoms).While the final return-to participation decision is to be made by the player’s team physician, the team physician must discuss the return-to-participation process and decision with Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher, the director of the NBA’s Concussion Program, prior to the player being cleared for full participation in NBA Basketball.It’s important to note that there is no time frame to complete the protocol. Each injury and player is different and recovery time can vary in each case.

There’s no right answer to this. Some might even say the Warriors failed to keep their player safe by allowing him to return to the game, but when he’s not experiencing the symptoms of a concussion, or he’s lying about them, there’s nothing a team can do.Foresight is 20/20 and now that those concussion fears have been realized, he’ll have to go through the process of getting cleared. A week is a long time in the NBA Playoffs, but it might not be enough for Thompson to get right for Game 1.Thompson was magnificent in the second quarter, scoring 13 points as the Warriors took a 52-46 lead into the break. Let’s hope the Warriors have one-half of their vaunted backcourt healthy and ready for the Cavs in Game 1.The NBA Finals tip off Thursday, June 4 at 9 p.m. EST on ABC.

VIA: The Chicago Bulls finally pulled the trigger on Thursday in making the long-rumored move to dismiss head coach Tom Thibodeau. In doing so, they officially ended months of speculation that he would not return for a sixth season despite consistent regular season success in Chicago.As expected, the organization released a statement regarding the move but instead of a statement, they released a novel with one of the most oddly long and unnecessary explanations ever.Chicago Bulls General Manager Gar Forman announced today that Tom Thibodeau will not be retained as the team’s head coach.Chicago Bulls Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said, “The Chicago Bulls have a history of achieving great success on and off the court. These accomplishments have been possible because of an organizational culture where input from all parts of the organization has been welcomed and valued, there has been a willingness to participate in a free flow of information, and there have been clear and consistent goals. While the head of each department of the organization must be free to make final decisions regarding his department, there must be free and open interdepartmental discussion and consideration of everyone’s ideas and opinions. These internal discussions must not be considered an invasion of turf, and must remain private. Teams that consistently perform at the highest levels are able to come together and be unified across the organization-staff, players, coaches, management and ownership. When everyone is on the same page, trust develops and teams can grow and succeed together. Unfortunately, there has been a departure from this culture. To ensure that the Chicago Bulls can continue to grow and succeed, we have decided that a change in the head coaching position is required. Days like today are difficult, but necessary for us to achieve our goals and fulfill our commitments to our fans. I appreciate the contributions that Tom Thibodeau made to the Bulls organization. I have always respected his love of the game and wish him well in the future.”Following 21 years in the NBA as an assistant coach (he was an advance scout in 1991-92), Chicago named Thibodeau the team’s head coach on June 23, 2010. During his five seasons at the helm of the Bulls, Thibodeau’s teams compiled an overall record of 255-139 (.647). The Bulls advanced to the playoffs five times during Thibodeau’s tenure, where he posted a postseason record of 23-28 (.451).“When Tom was hired in 2010, he was right for our team and system at that time, and over the last five years we have had some success with Tom as our head coach,” said Chicago Bulls General Manager Gar Forman. “But as we looked ahead and evaluated how we as a team and an organization could continue to grow and improve, we believed a change in approach was needed.”